The Beginning of the Change
by Phoenix0in0the0dark
Summary: Annabeth Chase is a regular kid attending high school. But, her life is turned upside down when she meets Percy Jackson. PERCABETH! The Fabulous Rick Riordan owns the characters. Highschool AU
1. Chapter1: Any other day

Annabeth's POV

I swear to you, it was just another day that changed my life forever.

Sorry, I should introduce myself. My name is Annabeth, Annabeth Chase. I have curly, unruly blond hair, and gray eyes. I'm pretty athletic and tan from living in California my whole life, up until last month. I'm 16 years old, and have two annoying younger brothers. My dad is a crazed professor, and my mom is…well, she's gone.

It was a regular day of school, you know; the kind where scraping a cheese grater against your brain would be less painful than listening to Mrs. Padrosky drone on and on. Even though you may think you know why I hate school, you don't. I love learning, but I already know everything they're trying to teach us. Even though I have dyslexia, I'm probably the smartest girl in my school. I go to Crescentridge High School. Uh…Go Hammerheads? I don't have a lot of school spirit seeing as I don't appreciate the school. At all. And of course that lack of appreciation stems from the fact that I only started attending that school a week and half ago. I'm new and only have one friend named Thalia. Speaking of Thalia; I was talking to her that day.

Anyways, I was walking to AP Lit, when I saw my only friend, who I mentioned: Thalia Grace. Thalia is pretty much the exact opposite of me in looks. She has jet black hair that is cut short and spiked; she looks like a punk rocker with her Goth looking jewelry. She has black combat boots and has headphones draped around her neck. Her eyes are blue, really blue. I'm talking neon sign blue, especially with her black eyeliner.

I was talking to her about the Chem homework. Of course, she told me that she had thrown it away instead of bothering to actually, you know, _do it_. I was laughing at her work ethic and she was scowling at me when I saw him. He was literally the most gorgeous boy I had ever seen. He had raven black hair that was windswept as if he hadn't brushed it and didn't really care. He was tall, lean, and obviously athletic. He had muscle, but not so much that it was distracting. He had a sarcastic smile that I'm sure made him unpopular with teachers as it made him seem like a troublemaker. And his eyes, oh gods, his eyes. They were sea green, like the ocean, and so full of light. They lit up further when he smiled and laughed like he was now. He was easily the hottest guy in the school, and he was walking in MY direction.

"Annabeth…Annabeth...Annabeth…ANNABETH!" I blinked my eyes in surprise as I noticed Thalia yelling my name and waving her hand in front of my face.

"Wha…?" I realized my mouth was hanging open and shut it with an audible _clack_.

"Dude, you were totally zoned out," Thalia chuckled. I tore my eyes away from the boy's face to protest.

"No…I was not. I don't know what you're talking about…" I trailed off as Thalia followed where my gaze had been and caught sight of the boy. She gasped.

"Dang, Zhang! He's cute," Thalia exclaimed, using a common phrase we used to make fun of our friend Frank Zhang. (It started during the beginning of his first relationship involving two spatulas, a waffle-fight, more ribbons than I care to admit, and several plastic bags. You don't want to know. Anyways, back to the story.)

"Uh-I guess so," I muttered, trying to act nonchalant. Of course it was just then that, in my haste to get away, I closed my locker and backed away in time to collide with someone.

"_Oof_!" I grunted before I completely lost my balance and started to fall to the ground. My instinct was to shove my hands in front of me to break my fall. I did just that, unfortunately, my books and papers flew everywhere. Before I could hit the floor in a very painful way, a hand grabbed my arm and hauled me up. I found my balance and looked at the hand. I followed the hand to the arm, to the shoulder, to the neck, to the face. I sucked in a breath; it was HIM.

"Sorry," he apologized, "I'm Percy, Percy Jackson." I let out my breath, and took another one. I couldn't make a sound. Mortified, I looked sideways at Thalia who was trying to stifle her laughter with one hand. Percy suddenly let my arm go and looked at the ground.

"Oh, are these yours?" He bent over to pick up my books the same time I did and hit my head with his. Oh yeah, real smooth, Chase. How cliché. Since there inconveniently was no wall near to bang my head on repeatedly, all I could do was smile sheepishly and continue to pick up my stuff. I still hadn't said anything, which was seriously unlike me, when he asked me for my name. The five-minute bell rang.

I straightened up and said with such grace and clarity I surprised myself; "Annabeth…Chase." Then, I booked it out of there and to first period Chem with Mr. Greabs.


	2. Chapter2: Get To Know You Well

Chapter 2: Get to know you well

Percy's POV

I walked into Chem and almost ran into a wall. I couldn't stop thinking about that girl I had run into. If I had been any less of the person I am, I would have been staring at her from a distance, speechless. She was beautiful. But, she obviously either didn't know she was beautiful, or didn't really care. She had been looking in my direction earlier, and I found myself wishing that she had been looking at _me_.

I snapped out my thoughts and musings to see HER sitting across the room. She had her head in her hands and was reading a book. She looked bored. I smiled inwardly; this was my chance to get to know her without coming across as a complete idiot, only as a minor idiot.

"Hey," I greeted her as I slid into the seat next to her. She looked up at me and muttered, "Hi." A blush spread across her face and I wondered if she was embarrassed to be seen with me.

"I can move if you want me to," I stuttered as I gathered my things. I felt a hand on my arm and looked back.

"No…it's okay. I'm just kind of shy around…well, just people I don't know." She kind of said it all in one breath. I nodded and smiled at her. She smiled back.

Over the next 45 minutes, we talked. She turned out to be a great person. She laughed and I saw her stormy eyes clear and become warm and bright. She was seriously smart. The most complicated concepts were child's play to her.

When I walked out of the classroom, Beckendorf came up to walk alongside me. I waved goodbye to Annabeth and she smiled back at me.

"Wow," Beckendorf whistled, "how did you get her to even talk to you? She's WAY out of your league." Beckendorf obviously has infinite confidence for me in these kinds of situations. NOT.

"Gee, thanks. You know, unlike some people, I can actually talk to girls instead of running away and hiding from them, then acting tough and macho." I shrugged. Everyone liked to tease Beckendorf because we all knew that he liked Selena, but he won't do anything about it, except complain to all his friends. Beckendorf snorted at me just as Rachel came up, too.

"You know that either of you could probably have any girl here, right?" We just looked at her with blank stares.

"Right. Just checking." She smirked and skipped away to catch up with her friend, Piper. Beckendorf and I looked at each other, confused. We shrugged and walked to our respective classes.


	3. Chapter3: Sink or Swim

**Hey guys, so I don't really know where I'm taking this story, so I don't know if I should keep writing. I have the next 2 and a half chapters written, but after that...I don't know. I might just end it after that, but it won't really have an ending. Anyways, let me know if you want me to keep writing or not. If you like my writing or my topic but not this specific story, check out my other stuff. Same username: Phoenix0in0the0dark (mashup of my two favorite Fall Out Boy songs BTW). Let me know...here's the next chapter:**

Chapter 3: Sink, or swim?

Annabeth's POV

I groaned as I closed my locker and prepared for my next class. Next, I had PE. I hold on to my assessment that PE is an excuse for teachers to torture kids with absurd "activities." I'm good at PE, don't get me wrong, but I despise this unit. Swimming. For some reason, I had a natural aversion with the ocean. It was probably on account of my bad memories. I'd had experiences with the sea before, and none of them were good. Once, I almost got carried off by an angry, persistent sea turtle. The next time, I fell in the sand and was repeatedly pounded into it by ten foot waves until my dad got me out. Then, the time after that, I almost sat on a crab that then proceeded to steal my bathing suit top. Then, the time after that…well, you get the picture. I swear: the sea has it out for me.

I walked out of the changing room, and my day got better. Percy was walking towards the pool in his swimming shorts. He caught sight of me and smiled, I waved back. I went to stand beside him in line as the coach called roll. He shouted, "Chase!" and I responded with my own shout of "Here!" Percy shifted closer to me and I went to smile in his direction before I saw what he was moving away from.

Well, it was more like a who, because this was a human in the loosest of terms. It was her: Drew Tanaka. Drew was sliding up to Percy and smiling up at him and randomly giggling for no reason. Disgusting. Just as Coach Hedge called Jackson, Drew put her hand on his chest and pressed herself against him causing him to call "Here" an octave higher than he intended. She smiled again and tried to put her arm through his, but he had turned the other way…towards me. He flashed me his lopsided smile and it made me smile back automatically. Drew glared at me from behind him. Percy noticed the glare, and threaded my arm through his own. I smirked at Drew.

**Time Skip**

I was pulling ahead. The class was working on freestyle, and I was beating all the girls. The guys had already gone, and Percy had completely dusted them all by about four laps each. Since we didn't have the lane dividers; we had to just go with it. I don't mean to brag, but once I got in front, which I always did, I stayed there. I had gotten into a rhythm and I was on a roll.

I heard coach shout that he would be right back and almost immediately felt a hand close around my ankle, then another. With a shout, and a surprising amount of force, I was pulled beneath the surface. I kicked and punched, but I couldn't get any air into my lungs. Another hand closed around my wrist and started to pull me to the bottom of the pool head first. Soon, they let go, and I thought I saw Drew race to the surface, eager to get air, along with someone I had never seen before. I struggled to get to the surface, but I had no oxygen left in my lungs, and therefore no energy. My vision turned fuzzy and black on the edges when I saw a splash above me. The blackness began to close in. I lost consciousness just after I felt two arms circle me.

I woke up coughing. My lungs spasmed and I opened my eyes to see that I was on the ground beside the pool. I saw an adorably concerned Percy looking down at me and kneeling beside me. I also saw a very disappointed Drew scowl when she saw me open my eyes. Percy smiled and breathed out a sigh of relief when I looked at him. I was thinking a million things, but what came out of my mouth was; "Did I win?" Hey, this was a grade, and I refused to get a B. Ever. EVER. Percy laughed.

"If you really want to, I'm sure I can schedule a rematch with everyone here."

"That's a no, isn't it?" Percy laughed again and helped me to my feet. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.

"Wait," I stopped walking, and Percy turned to me. "Who pulled me under? How did I get back?" Before Percy answered, I saw him glare in Drew's direction.

"Nobody actually saw what happened when you went under. I heard the shout, and turned around to see Drew" he glared at her again "surface and start yelling that you passed out and drowned." He took a deep breath. "As for your second question, I saw your air bubbles, and-er-jumped in to get you out." He said the last part softly and quickly. I felt oddly touched. I mean, of course it was the obvious thing to do when someone was drowning, but I could tell he hadn't even given it a thought to not save me before he jumped in.

"Thank you," I whispered to him. He flashed me a sheepish smile, and I continued to walk with him.

**Please review or private message me about the continuation of this story...thanks, guys!**


	4. Chapter4: Octavian for Student Body Pres

**As with pretty much every piece of writing on this site, I own none of the characters, sadly.**

Chapter 4: Octavian for Student Body President

Percy's POV

I almost had two separate heart attacks. First, when I saw the look on Annabeth's face as she went under the surface. It was fear and confusion. I didn't hesitate to dive in. I saw her black out and lose consciousness. I wrapped my arms around her and swam as fast as I could to the surface. I had my second heart attack when I couldn't hear her breathing after I had pulled her out of the water. Feeling that fear was so strange to me. I didn't like it. But, I knew that I would get that feeling every time Annabeth was in danger. Hmm. I wonder why that is.

I was trying to remember to breathe when she walked back to the girl's locker room. One of my closest friends, Jason, came up to me while I was waiting for the bell to ring.

"Quite the white knight, aren't you? Come on, I saw you heroically jump in to save the damsel in distress." Jason smirked at me playfully. "Seriously, why did you?"

"She was in trouble."

"You know that's not an answer."

"You would have done the same thing."

"Percy! Come on, I saw the look on your face. What's so special about her?" I turned to look at him.

"I dunno. She's smart, beautiful, competitive, funny, and she doesn't need to be adored to feel good about herself." Jason looked at me for another second, and then shrugged.

"Okay." I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. Okay? Since when did he give up? Ever? Hmm. Then, Annabeth came out, looking shaken up, but okay. She looked tired and I wanted to wrap my arms around her if it would make her feel better. What wouldn't I do to make her feel better…whoa Jackson. Slow down. I walked towards her and took her books since we had the same class next. She smiled up at me, and then looked down again.

We took our seats in our next class. Her desk was directly next to mine. She sat down heavily and I followed. I couldn't help myself: I wrapped a protective arm around her. She gave me another weary smile and leaned her head on my shoulder. I smiled to myself.

Annabeth's POV

I don't really know what I was thinking when I let Percy put his arm around me. It was nice in that there-is-someone-looking-out-for-me kind of way. I leaned into him and tried to forget about the fact that someone had essentially tried to kill me. I felt someone sit next to me and when I looked over, I groaned. Instead of putting my head in my hands like I wanted to, I straightened up, and ignored him.

I should probably explain who "him" is. "Him" is Octavian. The school jerk. He was the guy that goes around trying to pick up girls and turns people against each other and tries to play savior to everybody so that they will be indebted to him. I don't really like him.

"Hey, Annabelle," he says it as if he hadn't intentionally sat there and had, in fact, just noticed me.

"My name is Annabeth. If you're going to annoy me, do it right," I muttered the last part. He laughed a fake, show laugh.

"Oh, Annie, you always know how to make me laugh." I rolled my eyes. Percy noticed him and frowned before looking back at the notes we were supposed to be copying. Octavian appeared to leave me alone and I breathed a sigh of relief, until he passed me a note. I sighed and opened it.

Dear reader,

Vote for Octavian as Student Body President!

Octavian will speak as the voice of the people for you! If you want to be heard, this is the best way. Speak your mind to the school through Octavian.

I rolled my eyes and passed it to Percy with a smirk. Percy read it and almost laughed out loud. I slid it back to Octavian with "in your dreams" scrawled on the back in block letters. He read it, and his face darkened. The bell rang and as I got up to leave I felt his hand on my arm and he pulled me back.

"You'll come around. They all do. Every time." He grinned evilly, until someone else yanked him away from me. His grin disappeared as he stared up at Percy who was towering over him, looking angry. His green eyes were burning. Yup, he was definitely pissed.

"Touch her, or anyone else, like that again, and I'll deal with you personally." He shoved him back and walked around the desks to grab my stuff, put his arm around me once more, and guided me out the door, leaving behind a perplexed Octavian sitting in a random seat.

**Sorry, but I love it when Percy gets all protective, he is adorable like this, you have to agree. Anyways, reviews are always welcome, unless they're telling me how much my writing sucks, thanks I already know that. Let me know where you want the story to go or things you want changed. :)**


	5. Chapter 5: Back Off?

Chapter 5: Back off?

Percy's POV

After dealing with that little creep-er-I mean that "person", I put my arm around Annabeth once again and led her out of the room. Yes, I was sulking about that little…exchange. The weird thing is; I know that Annabeth doesn't need anybody to protect her. She could probably kick everyone's collective butt, mine included, but I couldn't help myself. It was a kneejerk reaction. I could feel Octavian glare at me, but I just clenched my jaw and kept walking.

Once it was time for Annabeth and me to go our separate ways, I felt an irrational panic at leaving her alone. I glanced at her; she was looking at me with a confused look on her face. Dang, she looked cute confused…did I say that aloud? I looked away and kept pulling her to her locker.

"Percy," she yanked herself out of my grip and faced me. "What was that about? In the classroom?" I groaned on the inside, of course she would want to know about my strange behavior. She raised her eyebrows at me in a questioning look. I sighed.

"Octavian is a douche. He's a jerk to everybody. If he decides that he wants something, he will do whatever he can to get it. Looks like he wants you. That can't happen, because…" I trailed off, not really sure where I was going with that last sentence.

"Because, why?" She looked exasperated with me.

"Because it would be bad," I finished hastily. She looked at me for another second. Then, she shrugged, turned away, and continued walking to her locker.

Annabeth POV

Well, let me tell you, I don't really know what to do with this. I'll just get on with the story. I was walking to lunch when a girl came up to me, right after I left Percy. She looked at me like I was a stupid little seventh grader.

"Who are you?" she asked me sharply. I looked around me, behind me, unsure if she was asking someone else.

"Well? Who are you and what are you doing with him?" I was starting to get annoyed. She was a big girl, not thick, but muscular and tall. She was also vaguely familiar. Who was she to get all up in my face? I settled into a confident stance with my chin in the air, and my arms crossed. I didn't answer.

"Answer me. Now." She scowled at me. "Don't. Make. Me. Mad. Girl." Now, I was pissed off. She was obviously a bully, and I couldn't figure out where I had seen her before.

"Annabeth Chase. Why. Do. You. Want. To. Know." I stared straight at her, and she seemed to back off a little.

"Don't mock me."

"Too late. Now what do you want, I have to get to class." I shifted my weight to show her that I was getting impatient.

"What were you doing talking to Percy Jackson?" I stepped back. What did this have to do with him?

"He's my friend. Who are you? Why do you want to know?"

"No he's not, not anymore. Drew's got dibs. He's for her." I clenched my jaw.

"Get over yourself. He can choose for himself. Can I go now?"

"Clarisse! Get in class!" Mr. Padrosky yelled at the girl in front of me. She glared at me once more.

"Back off," she whispered to me as she walked away. I rolled my eyes and continued walking to lunch.

**Time Skip**

I entered the lunch room with my tray, not really sure where to sit, since Thalia usually ditched lunch. I felt a hand grab my elbow. I turned to see a girl I knew from Spanish inviting me to her table. Piper. Her name was Piper. She was really pretty, with chocolate brown hair that was kind of choppy and a feather braided in it. I couldn't really decide what color her eyes were; they seemed to change. She smiled and asked if I wanted to sit with her. I nodded and smiled back. As she led me to her table, I saw who she sat with. I recognized a few of them, like: Leo Valdez, Jason Grace (Thalia's brother), Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, and, of course, Percy Jackson. Of course he happened to be there. She introduced me to Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, Nico di Angelo, Silena Beauregard, Grover Underwood, Charlie Beckendorf, Zoe Nightshade, Bianca di Angelo, Travis and Connor Stoll, Katie Gardner, Juniper, Tyson, and Calypso.

Dang, there were a lot of people here. Compared to the empty table I sat at, alone, this was an upgrade. Piper and Hazel, to the left of me, chattered on and on about French, which apparently Piper excelled at. On my other side, Frank and Leo were debating whether fire or animals were more aggressive as weapons. I didn't understand the issue, inside joke, I guess. And, of course, there was HIM. Percy Jackson. He was laughing at Jason, who was looking mortified and staring at Piper from across the table. Percy caught me watching him and winked at me. I hastily whipped my head around to look the other way. A blush crept up my neck to cover my cheeks.

_Seriously?! Who winks anymore?_ I thought. I shook my head, trying to decode the enigma that was Percy Jackson. I like puzzles, I'm good at them. But, this one was leaving me in the dust. I couldn't get my head around it.

"Hey, Annabeth, do you want to see me beat up Connor?" yelled Travis.

"Ha. That's funny, I think this twin thing is starting to confuse you," scoffed Connor, "_I'm_ going to beat _you_ up. See how this works?" Travis elbowed him in the side, and they both looked at me expectantly. I blinked, realizing they were serious about their invitation.

"Yeah, sure." Wow, it's been about four hours since meeting Percy, and I already have about fifteen more friends than I did yesterday. Hmm.


	6. Chapter 6: Of all the people

**Hey, this one is super short, but I had to try to leave a cliffhanger for you. ;) Yeah, so I'll update really soon to make up for this. Maybe even today. That's how special you all are (even though I know none of you) On with the story.**

Chapter 6: Of all the people

I'm going to give it a try. Sebastian What's-His-Face has been asking me to go to dinner with him for a while now. I figure that if it goes well I can keep it going (with a few conditions of course), and if it doesn't, it'll get him off my back for a while. I've thought this through…a lot…and I think that the downsides are not so horrible that I shouldn't give it a try. And for everyone out there who is smirking at me, saying that there is no way I can be this flexible…you're right. It's actually someone else pushing me to do this.

Anyways, we're going out tonight. It's supposed to be a double date with someone else, but I don't know who. I'm not sure if I want to know.

No, never mind, I NEED to know. It's bugging me. If anything gets to me; it's not knowing, and jerks. Though, I'm okay with not knowing jerks.

This isn't my first "date" I've had many awkward attempts in the past, but even so, I didn't really know what to expect. I put on high tops, jeans, and a tank top, since it was getting pretty hot outside. I was supposed to meet him at the movies; we were going to see Paranormal Activity blah-blah. It was probably, like, the 13th, they'd been coming out with so many.

I walked to the theatre in the mall complex; it was only three miles away by the back alleys. I saw Sebastian, leaning up against a wall, trying to look "cool" I suppose. I sighed. _Let's get this over with_ I thought to myself. I walked up to him and flashed a weak smile then looked away awkwardly. He sidled up next to me and tried to wrap his arm around me, but I shied away from it. He looked at me, and then did it again, this time, I let it happen. No, I wasn't defeated, but, biding my time.

He turned around and greeted someone. When I turned around, I was surprised to see who I was going on a double date with.

It was none other than Percy Jackson.

**Wow, so that was actually shorter than I meant for it to be, but, oh well. I bet Annabeth was thinking that she would have preferred to be Alone Together with Percy, she must find him Irresistible. (Haha, Fall Out Boy jokes, look it up if you don't understand) All right, I'm out**

** -Phoenix**


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